“C
AMPING IS ONE
BATHROOM AND
slow room service,”
my mom always
said. So while I
grew up hunting with my dad and build-
ing forts in the backyard, my childhood
was spent with easy access to a shower
and a soft bed.
It wasn’t until college that I started
voluntarily taking sunrise treks through
the Moraga hills in Northern California.
Those early mornings alone, surround-
ed by uncut grass and twisting trees,
brought a sense of peace to my life that I
never knew my soul needed.
Over the years my nature adventures
have increased — in both length and dif-
ficulty. And as I have continued to dive
deeper (albeit I’m still a relative novice)
into the world of backpacks and hiking
boots, my yearning to be in the hills has
grown with a fire I never expected.
For the most part I head out alone,
taking advantage of the small breaks my
schedule provides by frequenting the
trails near my home. My fur baby Zeus
and I can cover roughly 4- to 5-miles in
my self-imposed hour-long lunch break.
And though it’s not the same as climb-
ing through a new forest destination,
the time away from my desk always fills
me with a primal wholesomeness that’s
forever endearing.
But on a Saturday morning in mid-
June, I threw on my boots and headed
north to meet my good friend Rachel
Zupke and a new friend, Brenda Ulinski.
A day shy of 17-weeks pregnant, the
nearly 8-mile excursion was the longest
hike I’d done since being cleared to
workout again. I was nervous about
the 2,000-foot elevation gain, which
included dozens of flights of well-worn
wooden stairs.
The ladies and I agreed in advance
that if I needed to bow out mid-hike,
I would. But I was also secretly deter-
mined to see the tranquil waters of
Serene Lake. After all, I wanted to make
the most of this hike with Rachel. I was
unsure when I’d be able to join her again
— as who can guess how this baby will
truly affect my body and my time.
Prior to the hike, Rachel sent pic-
tures and trail descriptions. She was in
the midst of training for her 24-mile
through-hike of the Enchantments
with Rescue Freedom. (Day hiking in
the Enchantments is permitted for all
visitors. However, camping requires a
special, lottery-won permit. A ‘through-
hike’ means visitors complete the entire
38
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24-mile trek in just one day, without
stopping to pitch a tent.) Though the
mileage and elevation gain to Lake Se-
rene was a bit less than she needed for
her daily activity goals, she assured me
she’d add extra weight to her pack and it
would be fine.
The sun rose as I drove to the Lake
Serene trailhead to meet Rachel and
Brenda. A scattering of warm, newly
abandoned cars was the only evidence
that we wouldn’t be the first on the
trail. “This entire parking lot and the
spill-over lot will be full by the time we
get back,” Rachel told me.
“I’ve been here when the lot was so
full people blocked others in,” added
Brenda, who had hiked this trail several
times.
“That’s why we come early, to avoid
the crowds,” Rachel said. I couldn’t
argue with that logic. While the trail’s
popularity boded well for the lake’s
beauty, I’ve never been a fan of heading
to the woods only to be stuck in a city-
like crowd.
Eager to get going, we grabbed our
gear and headed out. The hike start-
ed as a wide, gravel path along an old
logging road. When we looked closely,
we could see remnants of the past on
worn stumps. I had read before the hike
that a section of the trail passes through
private land, which the owner had in-
tended to log in 2018. As I walked, I felt
humbled and grateful that this pristine
forest had been preserved. The owner
had paused their project, allowing a
fundraiser to raise the necessary funds
to keep the area in its current state.
It didn’t take long for the path to
narrow, brought in by towering salm-
onberry bushes and deciduous trees. As
our luck would have it, the bushes were
scattered with the sweet orange berries,
a delicious treat as we wandered uphill.